Former DFL Congressman Rick Nolan’s campaign is reporting third quarter fundraising of $484,000. Republican Congressman Chip Cravaack raised $471,183 in the same period. But Cravaack ended the quarter with a lot more campaign cash on hand than Nolan; more than $1.3 million compared to Nolan’s $464,000.

The Nolan campaign also trails Cravaack in overall fundraising. Cravaack has hauled in more than $1.9 million compared to Nolan’s $842,000.

Both campaigns have been running TV ads, as have more than a dozen outside special interest groups which hope to influence the outcome of the election. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, those outside groups have spent nearly $4 million in the 8th District. That makes the district number six nationally on the amount of outside cash coming in.

About the blogger

Mark Zdechlik covers health care and politics for MPR News. He began his MPR career in 1986 while attending St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota where he earned a degree in Business Administration. Over the past three decades, Zdechlik has been involved in covering virtually every major news story in the region.